Well, assumptions can be made using various data sources to predict certain things as you say, or more accurately that certain things will not happen.
However, it would be ignorant of us to believe that we know even a fraction of what the world/universe holds. There is more that we do not understand than that which we do.
This uncertainty will always create a probability, even if unlikely, that a given scenario may happen.
Any who, my point is that it is possible that Nostradamus, the Mayans, etc did in fact predict accurately the end of the world in 2012. Even if the chance is only 0.00000001%, it is still possible. Something as epic as the end of the world is probably out of our comprehension, or ability to predict one way or the other anyway.





